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An Oakland man who was among the tree-sitters who fought to save a grove of oaks and redwoods next to UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium was critically wounded in the West Bank today by an Israeli-fired tear-gas canister, officials and acquaintances said.

Tristan Anderson, 38, was injured during a protest over the separation barrier that Israel erected between it and the West Bank. An Israeli soldier fired the canister during a clash with protesters and hit Anderson in the head, said Ulrika Jenson of Sweden, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement.Jenson, who saw the incident, said in a statement released by the group that "the Israeli soldiers were standing on the hill looking over us, firing tear-gas canisters straight into the crowd."

"Tristan was hit and fell to the ground," Jenson said. "He had a large hole in the front of his head. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he was bleeding heavily from the head, nose and mouth."Anderson underwent brain surgery at Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv and was in the intensive care unit, Woody Berch, who works in civil-rights law in Israel, said after visiting the hospital.

Orly Levi, a hospital spokeswoman, told the Associated Press that Anderson's condition was "life-threatening."Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Berkeley chapter of the International Solidarity Movement, said, "He's really touch-and-go. He's hanging from a thread."Anderson's girlfriend Gabrielle Silverman, 25, was keeping a vigil at the hospital, group members said.